Caleb cass gates



No. 608,962. Patented Aug. 9,1393" 0. c. GATES.

RAILWAY TIE DISTRIBUTER.

(Application filed Feb. 19, 18 97.) (No Model.) 2 Shebts-8heet u.

W7 Attornay Patented Aug. 9, I898. C. C. GATES. RAILWAY TIE" DISTRIBUTE-R.

(Application filed Feb. 19, 1897.)

2 Sheefis-Shee't 2.

(No Model.)

Ill'i.

WITNESS] IN VEJVTOR,

U ITE urine.

CALEB CASS GATES, OF FORSYTI-I, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF QNE-I'IALF TO JAMES SKINNER HOPKINS AND VILLIAM W'ALLACE MCDONALD,

OF SAME PLACE.

RAILWAY-TIE DISTRIBUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 608,962, dated August 9, 1898.

Application filed February 19, 1897. Serial No. 624,689. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CALEB CASS GATES, a citizen of the United States, residing at For-; syth, in the county of Custer and State of Montana,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Tie Distributers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in railway-construction apparatus, and has more particular relation to tie-distribu ting devices.

The invention consists of the combination, with a suitable tie-conveying frame, of a plurality of tripping devices mounted thereon at intervals and adapted to divert the ties to discharge them laterally from said frame.

The invention also consists of certain other novel constructions, combinations, and arrangements of parts, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In' the accompanying drawings, forming. part of this specification, Figure 1 represents. a perspective view of the front of a construe iion-car and tie-distributer with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2represents a top plan view of my said invention. Fig. 3 represents a front elevation of the same. Fig. 4 represents an enlarged detail central vertical section through a portion ofmy improved distributor, illustrating the mode of mounting and operating one of the trips for forcing the ties laterally from the frame. Fig. 5 repre-. sents an enlarged detail-perspective view of one of said trips, and Fig. 6 represents an enlarged detail perspective View of the resettingrod and its operating-handles.

A and A in the drawings represent, respectively, the two hinged frames of my attachment; B and B, the respective trusses for supporting said frames; C C, the tie tripping or diverting devices; D, the support for the front of the frame A, and E the resettingrod. The said frame A may be of any desired material, and comprises side bars a and lateral brace-bars a, connecting the same. This frame A is mounted upon the front of any usual tie-conveying apparatus by means of suitable hinges and also by means of a lateral brace-rod a connected to the outer end of said frame and to the opposite corner of the car, thus bracing said frame against lateralmovement. The frame is also supported adj ustably in position by the truss B, which is suitably secured to the upper surface of the platform of the construction-car. This truss comprises a base-plate b, vertical standards b, and a winding-drum L This drum b is mounted upon-a transverse'shaft b journaled in the standards I), and provided at its opposite end with ano'peratingrwheel b. The said shaft 12 also carries a'ratchetwheel b fast thereon and engaged by a suitable pawl 12, mounted upon one ofthe standards b, so that when said wheel I is rotated in a forward direction it will'be prevented from rotating in the opposite direction by said pawl b. A pulley b is suitably journaled at the top of the standards I), so as to lie directly over the winding-drum 6 Supporting ropes or chains'b connected, respectively, to the forward end of the frame A and passing over said pulley b fare connected to said drum 22 so that upon the rotation of the drum said ropes or chains will be wound thereon, and thus tend to liftor lower the forward end of said frame A to adjust it to the desired inclined position; If so desired, ratchets and pawls similar to b and Zfimay be arranged at both ends of the shaft 6 so that there will be no tendency of the shaft to twist under the excessive strain to which it islsubjected when the apparatus is in operation. The said frame A is hingedto the'forward end of the frame A by any suitable forni of hinge,

and is braced against any lateral movement independent of said frame A by longitudinal steel bars connected, respectively; to the said bars of the respective frames. ThQe'said frame A is supported by the truss B, which is exactly the same in construction as the truss B, with the exception that the winding-drum and rope-pulley are arranged between the upright standards instead of to onesideof the same. As the saidtrussB has heretofore been described in detail, it will not be necessary to repeat this description in regard to the truss B. By means of said latter truss the frame A may be raised or lowered on its hinged joint, as desired, to secure the proper adjustment of said frame. Each of said frames A and A are provided with a plurality of lateral rollers arranged near the upper edges of the side bars of said frames in such manner as to form a rolling support for the ties, which are. forced over said frames between said side bars.

As the object of this machine is to dis- I tribute the ties from the construction-car over the frames A and A and drop them at predetermined intervals for the reception of the rails, said ties must be diverted in some way from their forward movement between the side bars of said frames, and to accomplish this I provide the tripping or diverting devices 0. Each of these devices comprises a pivoted plate 0, having an inclined aperture 0, in which is journaled a diverting-roller 0 having approximately the shape of a truncated cone. Said plate is also provided with a rigid inclined guide-piece 0 adapted to receive the forward end of the tie and divertit to one side. An antifriction-roller'c is arranged at the outer end of said guide 0 so as to further divert the said tie and cause it to engage and pass over an antifriction-roller c journaled on the upper edge of one of the said bars of the frame A. This roller 0 is provided at one end with a worm c adapted to engage one end of a pivoted supportinglever 0 mounted upon the forward free end of the plate 0 and adapted to normally support said free end by resting upon the upper edges of side strips 0 0 secured to the inner sides of the respective side bars of the frame A. Each of said strips 0 is formed with a plurality of recesses 0", having inclined walls 0 which the ends of the pivoted supporting-levers c are adapted to engage.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that a tie passing over the lateral rollers of the frames will first strike the guides c and the rollers 0 and be thus partly diverted to one side. Further movement of said tie will cause it to engage the antifriction-wheel 0 which will further divert it to cause it to pass over the longitudinally-arranged roller 0 and be discharged laterally from the apertures into the desired positions for the reception of the rails. As the said roller 0 is rotated by the passage of a tie over the same, the worm c engages the end of the pivoted lever c and rotates said lever upon its pivot in such manner as to cause its respective ends to slide down inclined walls 0 of the recess 0 and thus permit the plate 0 and all the devices carried thereby to pass below the horizontal plane of the top of the lateral rollers. The frame A is provided with a plurality of the said deflecting devices C, equal in number to the number of ties to be discharged and arranged at such intervals as the ties are to occupy when placed upon the road-bed. After the first tie has been discharged it will be observed that the second tie, passing forward over the lateral rollers, will not strike the trip or deflector of the first tie, as the same hassunk out of its path, but will continue on to the second trip, and there be discharged, which action will cause the second trip to in turn sink out of the path of the third tie, to permit the latter to pass on to the third trip, and so on through the entire series. In order to reset all the trips into their raised positions after they have all been operated, I provide one of the side bars of the frame A with a sliding resetting-bar E, provided with operating-handles e, that pass through suitable slots formed in said side bar, so that they may be readily grasped to slide said bar E longitudinally to the rear. This bar is provided with a plurality of vertical projections 6, each of which is adapted to engage one end of its respective pivoted lever 0 when forced inwardly, so as to cause said levers to again ride up the inclined walls 0 and assume their normal positions at the tops of said walls. The forward end of said bar E is provided with a coil-spring which is connected to the frame A, so that upon said bar being released it automatically returns to its forward position, ready to again reset the trips when so desired. I further provide for the support of the forward end of the frame A by my improved support D. This support comprises a hinged frame 61, having pendent arms d arranged at each end of the same, and lateral braces (1 pivotally secured at their upper ends to the respective side bars of said frame A and at their lower ends to the pendent arms cl by screws d that pass through suitable elongated slots (1, formed in said braces. It will be observed that by this peculiar construction the said plate (1 and arms d may be readily forced inward when so de-' sired, but when in a vertical position are rigidly supported against any lateral movement by said brace-bars (1 The lower ends of said arms d are connected by a cross-bar d, in which is journaled the upper end of an adjusting-screw (1, provided with an operatingwheel d Said screw d is adapted to pass through a supporting-yoke d the opposite ends of which are adapted to rest upon the road-bed. The left-hand end of this yoke d is provided with a screw-threaded block d, in which is mounted a vertically-adjustable screw dhhaving an operating-wheel d and a foot d. The office of this screw (1 is to make one end of the yoke d longer than the other, so that the support D may be made to exactly fit the contour of a sloping embankment or grade beside the track when so desired, so as to form a firm support for the forward end of the frame A. By the peculiar construction of my said support D the same will afford a firm and laterally-rigid support for the forward end of the frame A, but at the same time will be readily pressed rearwardly and upwardly when the said frame is forced forward by the forward movement IIO i i p of the construction-car. The height of the said support D may be adjusted at will by means of this adj listing-screw cl", so that said support will firmly engage the road-bed, no matter whether the same be level or otherwise.

It will be observed that by the employment of my invention in connection with the usual tie-feeding device all of the ties necessary for a railroad may be fed forward and deposited at predetermined intervals from the construction-car Without having to be carried or replaced after they have been deposited.

This apparatus obviates the necessity of the employment of a great many road-hands, as has heretofore been the case when only a portion of the ties have been laid at a time, and the remainder dropped from the rear of the construction-car as the same passed forward and then inserted under the rails With a great expenditure of time and labor. WVith my device all the ties necessary for a road-bed are deposited in advance of the construction-car, and are thus originally laid in the position they are ultimately to occupy under the rails.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a railway-tie distributer, the combination with a suitable supporting frame adapted to be mounted upon the tie-distributing device proper, of transverse supporting-rollers journaled in said frame, longitudinally-extendin g discharge-rollers journaled at predetermined intervals upon said frame,

and a plurality of tripping devices arranged in proximity to the longitudinal rollers to divert the ties at these points, and cause them to be discharged from the supportingframe, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-tie distributer, the combination with a supporting-frame adapted to be secured to the tie-distributer proper, of a plurality of supporting-rollers journaled in said frame, a plurality of longitudinally-extending rollers journaled at predetermined intervals in said frame, and a plurality of tripping or diverting devices also mounted in said frame and each comprising a pivoted plate, an inclined guide and a support for said plate, the construction and operation being such that after a trip has once been operated it falls out of the line of travel of the ties and permits the same to pass readily over it, substantially as described.

3. In a railway-tie distributer, the combination with a supportingframe adapted to be secured to the tie-distributer proper, of a plurality of transverse rollers journaled on said frame, a plurality of longitudinally-extending rollers also journaled on said frame, a plurality of tripping devices arranged in proximity to said rollers and adapted to divert the ties to said longitudinal rollers so as to be discharged from the frame, and means longitudinal rollers and said trips, whereby I upon the rotation of the .former the latter Will be lowered out of the path of the ties passing over the lateral rollers, substantially as described.

5. In a tiedistributer,the combination with porting-rollers mounted in said frames, longitudinally-extending discharge-rollers also mounted in said frames, and tripping devices mounted in proximity to said longitudinal rollers and adapted to divert the ties on the latter to be discharged laterally from the apparatus, substantially as described.

6. In a tie-distributin g apparatus, the combination with a construction-car, and tie-distributer proper, of a .supporting frame mounted thereon and projecting forward therefrom, atruss carrying a Windlass, ropes connecting said Windlass and truss to the forward-projecting end of the frame, transverse supporting-rollers mounted in said frame,and trips mounted in proximity to said rollers and adapted to divert the ties so that they will be discharged laterally from theapparatus, substantially as described.

'7. In a tie-distributing apparatus, the combination with a suitable frame adapted to be secured to the tie-distributer proper and comrisin two hin ed sections of a truss carr ing a Windlass and mounted on one section, ropes connecting said Windlass and truss with the outer end of the other section, whereby the same may be raised and lowered at will, transverse rollers mounted on the supportingframe, longitudinally-extending dischargerollers also mounted on said frame and a plurality of trips mounted in proximity to said longitudinal rollers and adapted to divert the ties so that they will be discharged laterally from the apparatus, substantially as described. i h l 8. In a tie-distributing apparatus, the combination with a supporting-frame adapted to be mounted upon the tie-distributer proper, of a plurality of transverse supporting-rollers mounted on said frame, longitudinallyextending discharge -rollers also mounted. on said frame, trips mounted in proximity to said longitudinalrollers adapted to divert the ties on the same, so that they will be discharged laterally from the apparatus, a hinged supporting-frame mounted upon the forward end of the frame. proper and capable of being doubled back under the said lateral frame, and an adjustable supporting-yoke mounted on said hinged frame and adapted to engage the road-bed, substantially as described.

9. In a tie-distributing apparatus, the combination with a suitable frame adapted to be secured to the tie-distributer proper, of transverse supporting-rollers mounted on said frame, longitudinally-extending supportingrollers also mounted on said frame, trips ported supporting-rollers also mounted on said frame and each provided with a worm, inclined supporting-pieces mounted upon the side bars of said frame, trips mounted in proximity to the longitudinal rollers and each comprising a pivoted plate, an inclined roller journaled therein, an inclined guide and pivoted lever, the latter being adapted to normally support said trip, but to be actuated by the worm upon its respective longitudinal roller to cause it to slide down the inclined guides mounted upon the frame, substantially as described.

11. In a railway-tie distributer, the combination with a longitudinal conveyer, of a plurality of tripping devices mounted at intervals upon said conveyer and adapted to divert the ties and discharge them laterally from said conveyer, substantially as described. 1

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CALEB CASS GATES.

Witnesses:

E. S. BECKER, A. D. HARRIS. 

